Golden Gate Fields and Racetrack
THREATENED
NEXT MILESTONE
EBRPD board vote on purchase agreement, Oct 20, 2026
The largest shoreline land deal in a generation is under way next to one of the Bay's best kite launches. Golden Gate Fields closed to racing in June 2024. In February 2026 the Trust for Public Land (TPL) took an option to buy the 161-acre property for $175 million, including removal of the above-ground structures. Of the 161 acres, about 31 are open water along the shoreline. Roughly 40 acres are in Berkeley and the rest are in Albany. Here's a snapshot of the funding:
- State: $125 million from the Prop 4 climate bond, through AB 113, signed in September 2026. The site must be used principally for parks and open space.
- EBRPD: $20 million from Measure WW.
- TPL: about $30 million from private donors. EBRPD's general manager says the purchase must be complete by the end of 2026.
EBRPD will own and manage the park. It expects to take title in spring 2027, run a public planning process from 2027 to 2029, and build in phases after that as funding allows. The EBRPD board is scheduled to vote on the purchase agreement on October 20, 2026.
What the plans say so far. The EBRPD and TPL describe trails, habitat and an unbroken shoreline park from Richmond to Oakland. Neither mentions launches, rigging areas or parking. The only parking statement on record came from EBRPD's general manager at Albany's September 28 town hall about folding more parking into Racetrack in phases. At the same meeting, residents proposed paid parking to replace the revenue the racetrack paid Albany, about $1.1 million a year to the city and $700,000 to the school district.
The Recreational Ecosystem. Albany's own General Plan supports water access. Policy W-3.5 directs the city to "designate areas to provide water access for windsurfers, kayakers, and other non-motorized watercraft." Policy W-3.4 says parking should be "based on actual use patterns," but we've seen a decrease in boardsailor use due to limited parking. More public access to the shoreline does not guarantee access to the water, however, so this has to be in the planning record before the landscape is designed. The introduction of the Bay Trail from Gilman to Buchanan displaced scores of informally parked cars. Shoreline improvements have increased demand. The significant loss of recreational parking at Berkeley will have major impacts throughout all of these already stressed East Bay shoreline parks. With Berkeley moving to paid parking, Toll Plaza closed, Crown Beach losing sand, Point Isabel's parking squeezed during construction, Racetrack at capacity and Marina Bay short on space, EBRPD's plans for Golden Gate Fields should be sized for these regional dynamics in mind.
2026–27 priorities:
- Ask EBRPD to map launch and landing zones, rigging areas, loading zones and long-duration parking within a short carry of the water, and to keep launch corridors clear of fences, posts and plantings.
- Keep interim access to the Golden Gate Fields lots at Racetrack and Fleming Point through the transition, with parking of at least three hours.
- Measure current use at Racetrack, Point Isabel and Marina Bay with mobility data before planning starts in 2027.
- Oppose paid parking as a way to replace Albany's lost racetrack revenue.
- Secure an SFBA seat in EBRPD's 2027–29 planning process.
Plans and documents: EBRPD, Future Golden Gate Fields Park · Trust for Public Land, Golden Gate Fields · Albany 2035 General Plan, Waterfront Element · Draft Bay Area Boardsailing Plan, 2019 · Water Trail, Albany Beach site report